The Causeway to Baltimore, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had been doing some thinking recently, going over the activities that helped her cut through the noise in her brain. All of the ones she'd found so far involved the participation of other people and she needed to find something she could do by herself so she didn't have to keep bothering folks. And that had gotten her to thinking about the almost-reverie she'd slipped into on Dante's motorcycle. That was something she could potentially do for herself...except she'd need a bike of her own.

Or Dante could share his, but ahahahahano.

It wouldn't hurt to start looking for something like that, though, would it? Even if she didn't buy something right away, having an idea in her mind wouldn't hurt. She made her way towards the Causeway and sent a text at the same time. If she were going shopping, she should consult an expert, right?

Hey. U busy?

[For the motorcycle guru and SP]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yes, ma'am," Dante said.

He picked up the bike around the middle and hoisted it up like it weighed nothing.

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"You're so strong," Kathy said, pretending to swoon as she followed along after him. "I'm getting weak in the knees just watching you."

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Dante rolled his eyes. "I can put this down," he retorted, walking back to the car.

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"I'm just trying to appreciate you," Kathy protested, all innocence.

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"You can appreciate me without talking," Dante decided, as he put her bike in the back seat.

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"Oh sure," Kathy agreed, sliding into the driver's seat. "I can do lots of things. But the real question is, why would I?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"'Cause then I won't have to throw your nice bike out the window?" Dante suggested, leaning on the car door. "You're good to go."

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Kathy decided not to point out that she'd still have his bike in the car. Mostly because she wasn't sure he'd be amused by any threat to his motorcycle, even one made while clearly jesting.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your handlebar mustache in a twist," she said, shifting the gears. "You hopping in or am I gonna come pick you up later?"

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Dante squinted at her. "I think if you start driving with both of these in the trunk, one is gonna fall out," he said.

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"And I didn't see, like, rope or bungee cord or anything to hold them in," Kathy agreed. "Okay, that's fair. Thoughts on where we should go? I'm thinking that drive to the parking lot we went to a few weeks ago? Seemed pretty isolated, but if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm cool with the lot," Dante said, shrugging casually.

He plucked his bike out the back. "Race you there."

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"Unfair advantage!" Kathy called. But that wasn't stopping her from reversing the car out through the entrance in the back. It had been awhile since her lessons in driving stick in Driver's Ed, but she was pretty sure she remembered the important bits. She wasn't grinding the gears or stalling out the clutch, yet. So...win!

[rebelseekspizza]

"You prove you can drive that thing!" Dante called, settling onto the bike.

He was squeaking out the back before her car could get there.

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It would have been cool to say something like 'Eat my exhaust!' but Dante was a) winning and b) probably wouldn't be able to hear her over his engine and hers. So instead she focused on remembering what gear meant what and downshifted now that she was picking up speed. She was more dependent on traffic than Dante was--even a Maserati couldn't weave between cars like a motorcycle could, but if she could get out of the city quickly, she could speed up while finding the highway they'd taken to get to the parking lot.

She was also blasting the radio as soon as she had a free second. Driving in a car like this required music playing as loud as possible, it really did.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante couldn't really disagree with her on that, even if he'd argue with her on her music choices.

Not that he had the time for that right now. He was roaring down the street, abusing that ability to dodge and weave as much as he could, while he could.

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Not every experience needed an aggrotech soundtrack, Dante! Sometimes you needed the steady throb of an R&B bassline as you drove!

She made her way out of the city as quickly as she could, cursing out every light, stop sign, and pedestrian that slowed her down. She managed not to stall out ever, though there were a few shift changes that left her wincing and apologizing to the car. It was too nice a car for an amateur like her to drive, but she wasn't going to pass up what was likely her only chance to ever get behind the wheel of a car as nice as this one.

Or as fast. As soon as she left the city proper behind, she shifted into fifth and really let the car go. She went from 30 to 60 in less than a second. Several seconds after that, she was at 80. And still her foot continued to press and the speedometer to climb.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante was still racing in front of her. He'd managed to cover quite a bit of distance while she was stuck in the city; but now that they were out, and he could see her creeping in behind, he was...

...taking his foot off the gas.

It wasn't fun when it wasn't real race, was it?

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Then it was just driving fast and he could do that any time.

Kathy's eyes were steady on the road, save for those brief half-second intervals when they flicked down to the speedometer to watch the numbers climb. Funny how different a hundred and ten miles an hour felt on the back of Dante's bike than it did behind the wheel of a several ton car. And her foot wasn't even against the floor yet; there were still numbers to the right of where the needle was pegged.

Seeing Dante ahead of her, she honked the horn. Once, just to make sure he knew she was behind him, as if the blaring music wasn't sign enough. And also just out of the sheer joy of going this fast in a car this gorgeous.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed, looking over his shoulder for a second. "Can't go any faster than that?" he bellowed.

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"You're gonna eat those words!" Kathy shouted back, pushing the accelerator further. The speedometer crept to 115 and then 120. And then she hit the button for 'race mode' and the car leapt to 125 as the reaction time plummeted. "Wahooo!"

This had a great chance of getting her killed but goddamn it was fun.

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Okay, she was getting closer... closer...

... and close enough.

Dante hit the throttle, spurring the bike to go faster, real quick.

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But Kathy was still accelerating, too. The upper speed of a Maserati was 188 miles per hour and Kathy was going to hit that or...

Okay, not die trying but be really sulky if she didn't.

Still, her car was significantly heavier than Dante's bike, and that wasn't even counting the fact that she had another bike tucked in the back. So even with race mode, steadily clicking her speed upwards, she couldn't match his sudden jump. The car hit 145 and then 150, the landscape a blur out the windshield.

[rebelseekspizza]

And Dante kept speeding up, keeping up with her, a blip about fifty feet ahead, never further away, but never slowing down, either.

Wasn't that far to the lot, right?

[spin_kick_snap]

Not really, but that was okay. Kathy had given up on the race entirely; Dante was keeping his lead too perfectly for her to catch up. She just wanted to top out the car's speed. This was the only time she'd ever be able to, especially if when she gave up the car afterwards.

She saw the parking lot in the distance, but getting closer. She also saw her needle peg at 165. Still over 20 miles an hour to go. New plan: blow past the parking lot until she hit 188.

[rebelseekspizza]

Top speed on the bike was 186 mph. This would be interesting.

Though the design of the bike definitely gave Dante an edge. He smirked over his shoulder again, gently speeding up. "You're gonna miss the lot!"